it was a great opportunity for the president and for me, for both of us to talk about our respective points of view. >> but could the town hall format create its own challenges? the president is a little out of practice. mitt romney is sometimes called out of touch. plus, the blowup over benghazi with libya sure to come up tomorrow night. senator lindsey graham this weekend accusing the white house of a cover-up. >> they're trying to sell a narrative, quite frankly, that the mideast, the wars are receding and al qaeda's been dismantled. they believe believed the media would investigate. congress was out of session, and this caught up with them. >> on the trail today, paul ryan stumping in his home state before heading this hour to ohio. >> and in wisconsin, we have shown that if leaders step up and lead, we as voters have their backs. we haven't dedicated our

electoral votes since 1984 to the republican nominee. it is time we change that. >> and a laugh a minute. "snl's" take on joe biden and paul ryan. >> first of all, i want to thank centre college for hosting us this evening. >> oh, boy, here we go. oh, man. >> four years ago president obama made a promise. that he would bring down unemployment below 6%. >> oh, this guy. i mean -- >> good day, i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. tomorrow night's debate could be another turning point. mitt romney will try to extend the gains that he has made since his first debate in denver. the president hopes to recover from a lackluster performance. and joining me now, msnbc contributor and managing editor of postpolitics.com. hey, chris, thanks so much. let's talk about the race. let's talk about the polls. let's talk about debate prep. the challenges for each.

you've got a town hall format, and already today you've got a little bit of trying to work the ref with word from our friend mark halperin that lawyers for both campaigns have signed a memorandum of understanding that has no political or legal weight because it is not the format agreed to. it has no weight on the debate commission. and presumably no weight on the moderator herself, candy crowley. we've reached out to cnn for their take. this is all happening today as we speak. >> andrea, i try to keep my analysis within kind of, you know, within bounds and not get too worked up one way or the other, but this is ridiculous. candy crowley, we all know, is very respected, was chosen for her kind of deep experience and knowledge covering politics. the idea that she would not be able to ask follow-up questions, the audience will obviously ask the questions, that she would not be able to follow up, maybe hold president obama or mitt

romney to more -- a more specific answer, a more detailed answer, actually answering the question rather than getting off on talking points. it's absolutely ridiculous. this is moderators matter. if you needed any evidence of that, go back and watch the vice presidential debate and the way in which martha raddatz didn't make herself the third debater, but added herself in at moments where her knowledge and her expertise were of value to push the candidates to say, you know what? that talking point's not going to be enough. it does a disservice to people who are still undecided. if there is no ability of someone at the level of candy crowley to be able to ask follow-up questions. that's why we have moderators. okay, sorry, diatribe ended. >> let me just point out that there's a very rigid format that has been agreed on, and it is no opening statements, no closing statements. two minutes, a question first to romney, then a question to president obama. then a two-minute follow-up if she chooses by candy crowley to pin them down. you know, two minutes and 5 seconds, perhaps, but not a long

15-minute segment. so this is a very tight format. and it's all from the audience. 20 questions preselected by candy crowley from 80 or so questions submitted by people selected as being undecided likely voters from suffolk county and long island where hofstra university is. >> but andrea, i would say -- >> i wanted to take you -- >> go ahead. i'm sorry. i would just say i think the format is great. i think average folks who are undecided getting to ask questions is great, i just think you have to have the ability of candy or any other moderator to say i'm not sure you answered what they were asking, that's all. >> and to "the washington post"/abc poll because we want to talk about the likely voters in your poll, what is your biggest takeaway from this poll which shows within the margin of error, 49% obama, 46% romney, where do we stand today? >> sure, close nationally. the post-poll at the end of september had it 49-47, so very, very similar among likely voters. what i would say is if you go into the guts of the poll a little bit, andrea, you have

president obama leading on every attribute question, who do you trust more, those sorts of questions as well as leading 48-44 among likely voters on who do you trust more to handle the economy? this is a place where mitt romney had led earlier in the year. it had gotten closer. if you look at the guts of the poll, it would suggest that president obama is in a pretty good place. given that, one of the most eye-opening numbers for me was, we asked who do you think won the debate last week? among likely voters, 71% said mitt romney. 17% said barack obama. you rarely have that huge majority saying a candidate, much less the nonpresidential candidate, nonpresident candidate, won, and yet the fundamentals of the race still, in this poll, look pretty good for president obama. >> and we take it from there. thank you very much, chris cillizza. the president is holed up in williamsburg, virginia.

general sockey is the traveling press secretary for the obama campaign. >> hi, andrea. >> looks beautiful down there. >> it is. hi there. >> first of all what's the mood inside the debate? how is he doing? >> he's energized. he's focused. he's energized, he's excited to be here. he's excited to get to new york tomorrow. and he's focused on having a good debate tomorrow morning. he's his own worst harshest critic i should say, and he's looked back at the tape from last week. he knows that he can do a better job communicating to the american people the choice and the selection, and i expect he'll do that tomorrow night. >> what about the debate format and the fact that his supporters, certainly the base, want him to be more aggressive and challenging mitt romney. at the same time, he's facing, quote, real americans, whatever that means. so he's got a town hall format. and you've got to project a certain warmth and personability at the same time you have to be tough and aggressive. how do you make those two competing things work? >> that's right.

well, he is looking forward to the town hall format and to taking questions directly from the people in the audience. you know, his primary audience is the people sitting at home. but he will -- we've seen in the past few weeks romney is willing to say anything to become president, even running away from his conservative record. the president will be firm and respectful in pointing out the times where he's not being truthful. >> there's a lot of controversy today over something that candy crowley said to politico back on october 5th. she said i understand i'm there. i'm not a fly on the wall. we don't want the candidates to spout talking points. that doesn't help voters. i'm going to react organically to what's happening. now, the format does permit her to then ask a two-minute follow-up trying to pin people down. as a result of that quote, i am told that lawyers for both campaigns created a memorandum of understanding jointly, sent copies to the debate commission. the debate commission is not party to that. and were demanding that candy crowley stick to the questions.

what can you tell me about this? >> well, i'm not going to get into the specific negotiations, but i will say the president's looking forward to the town hall format. it is an opportunity to take questions from the american people. but he's happy to take questions from whoever the source is. so he's not losing too much sleep over this tonight. he's focused on preparing for the debate. he's excited. you know, he'll -- he's excited to get on the plane tomorrow. >> but jen, the question is, were lawyers for each camp working with each other? were the obama and romney campaigns agreeing that they wanted to somehow pin her down to stick to the specific questions or to be less, you know, less free to ask follow-up questions? >> well, again, i'm not going to get into the specific negotiations. as you know, these happen before every debate. but again, the president's happy to take questions tomorrow, of course, from the audience and the people there, but from candy crowley as well. you know, he's just looking

forward to laying out the choice for the american people. >> questions were raised by lindsey graham over the weekend accusing the administration of a cover-up, saying that the story of benghazi changed so many times that it had to be a cover-up, unwilling to acknowledge that al qaeda was resurgent in libya. can you respond to that for the campaign? >> well, there's no one who wants to get to the bottom of what happened in libya more than the president. and as you know, as details have become available from the intelligence community, the administration has made those available. the state department and the intelligence community has made clear that anybody who was speaking on television or testifying or, you know, speaking shortly after these events would have said the same thing. so there's only one party who's making this politicizing this. we don't think it should be politicized. the president's focused every day on getting to the bottom of this because he knew and respected chris stevens and is really focused on protecting all of our diplomats who are serving abroad. >> mitt romney has had twice as

many town hall meetings -- at least twice as many -- in recent months as the president has. the president hasn't had many news conferences at all. do you think that you let him get a little rusty? >> the president's pretty good on his feet. i've been working for him for a long time, and i can tell you that much. we feel better about how his policies will help the american people, so that's an advantage. but you're right, mitt romney's a good salesman. he knows what to say that people want to hear. he did that during his time at bain, he did that during the 100 town halls i believe he's done over the past year or so. you know, we expect that he's going to try to hide from his record, and we're ready to combat that. >> jen psaki, the president isn't the only one who's a good salesman or saleswoman. thank you very much. traveling press secretary. >> thank you, andrea. have a good day. >> see you in hofstra. we'll hear from bob mcdon d mcdonnell coming up next. new hope for the pakistani schoolgirl who was shot for just taking on the taliban. and joining me live tomorrow

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expectations are high for governor romney after his widely acclaimed perform anticipate in denver. but the town happen setting does create different challenges for both candidates. in fact, mitt romney has had more town halls on the campaign trail than the president has in recent months. joining me now from the battleground state of virginia, governor bob mcdonnell, thank you very much, governor, for joining us. >> hi, andrea. >> what are you hearing from debate preparations from boston? >> of course, the president's actually in virginia right now. he's been here for a couple of days preparing. governor romney's back home in boston after some swings in virginia and ohio on friday and saturday.

and i think, you know, both of them are, obviously, skilled debaters. i think the town hall format is one both of them are comfortable in. i think the president did a very good job four years ago in a town hall debate setting. he's comfortable with that direct interchange. the difference here is that the questions of the citizens are going to control the flow of the debate. and so that creates a little more unpredictability. but i expect both of them to be able to handle that pretty well. >> a flap has developed today over concerns that both campaigns had, in a memorandum of understanding that apparently they worked on together, outside the purview of the debate commission, to try to make sure that the moderator does not go astray or afield. what are your concerns about the follow-up questions that is permitted -- follow-up questions are permitted in the format? >> andrea, i haven't heard that flap, and i think we probably -- people get too much hung up on the process. what the american people want to

really care about is the substance. and i think we saw last week that both governor romney and president obama weren't afraid to interrupt and get involved and duke it out a little bit. i this i people like that format. candy crowley is a professional. whatever the rules are, she'll handle it well. at the end of the day, it's not about the process. it's how do we get americans back to work and out of debt. and i think that's why this debate, like the others, will favor mitt romney because the president's plans, hey, he's worked hard, they have not worked. we are $16 trillion in debt. we have joblessness over 43% -- over 8% for 43 months until this month. and doubling of gas prices, et cetera. these are the issues, and i think it's going to be the vision that mitt romney's laid out versus the record of the president. and i think that favors the governor. >> you're talking -- you're focusing on the economic issues that many of us thought were going to be the core of this

campaign. at the same time, benghazi and libya and the concerns that -- >> yeah. >> -- that lindsey graham expressed. how much do you think mitt romney should be focusing on foreign policy? it was in virginia that he gave his foreign policy speech last week. is this a detour, or is this an important part of his campaign now? >> andrea, i think america's role in the world is always an important issue. and we have the highest gdp. we certainly are the leader of the coalitions that make up the west and our ideas of liberty and democracy are always important. but overwhelmingly, i think voters are going to vote, particularly the undecided voters, they're going to vote on jobs, the economy, taxes, spending, energy. but i do think the benghazi issue is symptomatic of a larger issue and i think we ought to wait for the fbi and congress to finish their investigations. i think legitimate questions about why weren't we prepared? why didn't we approve additional security?

and more importantly is, are we going to keep a strong military that projects strength around the world so we don't have al qaeda and other terrorist groups attacking americans and killing ambassadors for the first time in 33 years? i think that's really a legitimate question to be asked, and that's why this defense cuts that the president supported and refuses to do anything about is an important issue in this race. >> well, paul ryan voted for those same exact defense cuts, so that does undercut that argument a bit. let me ask you about -- >> well, andrea -- >> go ahead, sure. >> well, i was going to say, you're right. and i think many of us supported those last august because they averted a worsen a scenario whi is a meltdown in an international crisis because we defaulted on our obligation. but the point is after the super committee failed, andrea, i think it would take the leadership of a president to say, in a time of war, we cannot reduce this level of funding of

trillion dollars over ten years to our men and women in uniform. leon panetta said that. so i fault the president over the last six months. he didn't get a deal together. the house passed a bill to avert this catastrophic cut in defense, and now the president won't lead. so i agree. people supported it together 14 months ago, but the president hadn't helped to put together a plan to be able to avert the defense cuts today. that's the problem. >> well, the counterpoint, of course, is that the republican plan takes -- restores the defense cuts but takes it out of discretionary nondefense spending, and that is catastrophic to other people. >> that's true. >> that's where the crux of the argument is. let me just ask you quickly about the mother of glen daugherty, the former s.e.a.l. who was killed and the father of ambassador stevens speaking to bloomberg news, and both saying please do not politicize theette it deaths of our sons. do you think that it should be off limit for the campaigns?

>> listen, i'm a veteran, and i fully agree. americans ought to bind together, when we're attacked, we ought to join arms, republican and democrat. that's been the american tradition for a long time. and we should get the facts from the fbi and the commission, as i mentioned. but i do think the broader role of america's position of strength in the world as a foreign policy issue are unequivocal support for israel. what are we doing now to react to a dead ambassador, regardless of how it happened. we know that we have a dead ambassador, and what is going to be our response in the mideast? i mean, i think these are broader policy questions, andrea, that are called into question that will be the subject of the third debate, foreign policy. i think that's legitimate, but don't demonize anybody right now regarding the specifics of this attack because we don't have all the answers yet. i agree with the parents. i think that's right. >> and i know you're also the parent of -- your daughter is a veteran as well. we thank you for her service and your family's service.

>> yes. >> thanks, governor. appreciate it. >> thanks, andrea. and spoiler alert. how little-known canned dadidat could still change the balance of power in the senate. the "politico briefing" is next right here. time nfor the "your busines entrepreneur of the week." former model olga created a fashion marketplace that helps local boutiques that don't have their own e-commerce sites sell online. she knows content sells, so she also launched a companion online magazine as an ultimate source for what's in. for more, watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare? that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans,

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[ imitates crowd cheering ] strike! [ male announcer ] shop now. get the hottest toys on your list today, like furby and the itikes discover map... then put it on layaway so you have more time to pay. walmart. in today's "politico briefing," the third-party libertarian candidates running in a few key senate races could still play a decisive role in determining which party ends up controlling the upper chamber next january. politico senior congressional reporter manu raju joins me now. let's talk about which races we think this could be most important in, and let's start with missouri. >> yeah, missouri. >> claire mccaskill and akin, and there is a libertarian candidate. >> that's right. he's pulling in about 9% according to a public policy polling survey from earlier this month. that's a democratic firm that found that, you know, the support that he's pulling in is coming about a quarter of which is coming from conservatives which, of course, is his largest

voting bloc and one that would presumably go for todd akin, the republican candidate, in that race. now, that same poll had akin down by six points. and the question is whether or not some of those voters who may be registering a protest vote and someone who's not -- people who are not willing to support akin may eventually come home. the democrats, claire mccaskill, either want dine to participate in a thursday debate, that is something that the akin camp does not want, and it's a question whether or not him and as well as these other states, these other libertarian candidates, can pull off another conservative voters, people who can really tilt the election in some of these cliff-hanger races that could determine the senate majority. >> another race where this could be important with a third-party candidate is arizona, richard carmona making a big run against congressman flake. >> that's right. mark victor, libertarian candidate there, got to participate in last week's debate and really went after jeff flake, the republican, on

the issue of earmarks. now, that is an issue that flake has basically based his campaign on, cutting government waste, and the libertarian is running to the right of him. of course, that is a western state in which small government is a big issue, and that's something in which, you know, victor and the libertarians believe that they can pull off at least a small fraction of the vote. and one in which if carmona, the democrat, keeps this a close race, could make a difference at the end of the day. republicans in washington believe that flake will eventually one away, but right now the polls are showing that race to be exceedingly tight. >> and finally, montana, john tester versus reberg. >> dan cox, the libertarian candidate there, got to participate in a debate last night and took aim at both parties, criticized danny reberg on the issue of spending, and that's something that reberg has been going after tester about.

so likewise there, the democrats want cox to be involved in these debates because they see them as pulling out some crucial support. now, the big caveat in all of this and including in montana is that a lot of these libertarian candidates do pull from democrats as well. a lot of college-age voters, a lot of people who support issues that libertarians support such as the legalization of marijuana. those are things that do pull support from some of those more liberal voters. whether or not, you know, at the end of the day it's a wash remains to be seen, but at least right now democrats hope that it's enough to tilt the senate majority in a few weeks. >> manu, thank you very much for our "politico briefing." up next, british doctor stepping in to help that 14-year-old pakistani girl whose tragedy could transform her nation. plus, freefall. the daredevil dive from 24 miles in space and the nbc veteran who reported it to the world. this is "andrea mitchell repo s reports" only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] your mouth is cleanest after the dentist.

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topping the headlines right now on "andrea mitchell reports," the man called fearless felix broke a freefall record set in 1960 by stepping out of a balloon on the edge of space and falling to earth. he became the first human to travel faster than the speed of sound without being inside a craft. more than 800 miles an hour. and nbc's former veteran on all things space, the one and only bob haeger did the play-by-play for the response e sponsors. >> that's very, very reassuring what we've seen there. that high-speed drop and now you can see the little dot. there's the applause. >> oh captain, my captain, heartbreak for the yankees saturday night. shortstop derek jeter had to be carried off the field with a broken left ankle. ending his playoffs. recovery for jeter is going to take at least three months. and jeter will not travel with his teammates to detroit for the

best-of-seven series against the detroit tigers. a washington legend was born last night, just one week after he was sidelined by a concussion, rg3 capped off a big game with this 76-yard touchdown run. his third score of the day. racking up more than 300 total yards. nearly half of them on the ground. this was the longest run by a quarterback in the nfl since slash kordell stewart went 80 yards for the pittsburgh steelers 16 years ago. it was the first home victory for the skins since the first week of last season. welcome news for a city that is still heartbroken over the end of the baseball season. i can atus to that. attest to that. the pakistani teen who was attacked and shot by the taliban last week has just arrived at a major trauma center in the uk. since her shooting, thousand as cross pakistan and around the world have taken to the streets demanding justice for malala who was targeted by the taliban because of her work advocating

for rights of girls to be educated. our reporter is live in birmingham outside queen elizabeth hospital. bring us up to date on what are doctors telling you about her chances of recovery? >> reporter: andrea, she got here to the hospital in the last half hour or so. medical staff will be looking at her now. she had that 12 hours in the air, stopping off in abu dhabi on the way here. so she has had a long flight. she now has been taken to the hospital on a very slow journey. paramedics were very careful because of the nature of her injuries. but in the last hour, a hospital spokesperson has come out and given us, if you like, a first read. and he is saying that she does have a real chance of a full recovery. but, you know, managing expectations a little bit as well, i think, by just pointing out that it's likely that it will take weeks, probably months for her to really make that full recovery.

it will be a slow process. the damaged bone can be put back together by the surgeons here, but one of the questions, of course, will be how much damage there might have been if blood has been blocked to the brain. that will be a question that they'll be looking at, and it will take some time. >> keer simmons. this could be a transformative moment. we pray for her survival, but her courage is already being recognized as something that really has already changed pakistan. let's see whether it lasts. keer, thank you very much for your report from birmingham. good to see you. and several prominent republicans here are accusing the white house of either covering up or bungling initial reports about the attack on the u.s. consulate in libya. this while a veteran diplomat, lawrence pope, has now been brought out of retirement. he has been sent to tripoli to temporarily at least fill in for the late ambassador, chris stevens. joining me now, former defense secretary, william cohen. bill, thanks very much for being with us. you probably saw that lindsey

graham said this is either incompetence or a cover-up, suggesting there was a cover-up. from what you have read, what do you think happened with the initial reporting and the fact that for as long as five days later, they are still saying it could have some relationship to a protest when we have been told by state department briefers and by the testimony on capitol hill that they knew in realtime on an open line from benghazi to tripoli and from benghazi to washington exactly what was happening as those large groups of heavily armed men went over the wall and invaded the compound? >> well, i think it's important that we not have the verdict first and then the trial second. we need to find out what all of the facts were, what were the cables going back from ambassador stevens to the state department? did they reach the deputy secretary of state? did they reach secretary clinton? or did they get buried in a bureaucrat iic maze? we don't know yet. we don't know what they were

requesting and how high up that went. secondly, we have to remember that security for our diplomatic personnel at least in the mb embassy is provided by the host country. to the extent you have a new country as such with new leadership, we don't have the institutions in place. they don't have the security apparatus. so did that require extra security provided by the united states, and could we provide that with the content of the host government because they might have concluded that too much of a military force would look more like an occupation rather than simply security. so these are issues that have to be really examined. i think it's legitimate and very fair to raise the questions. i think it's unfair to reach a conclusion until we have all of the answers. and i don't think those have been fully provided. secondly, i think there are two issues involved. do i think that the video was calculated to provoke? it was and it did. and when you put your finger or stir up a hornet's nest, someone's going to get hurt. but i think there were groups like al qaeda-affiliated groups who were going to plan to attack

our embassy personnel at some point and were looking for an excuse, and they got it when there was confusion and chaos with a reaction to that provocative film. so there are a lot of conflict involved here. we need to sort through the facts and see where we go from here. >> do you think that governor romney has been too aggressive and paul ryan in his debate with joe biden in accusing the administration of either covering up or bungling this? >> i think we need to wait for the facts. i think it's fair for them to raise the issues, what happened? we need answers. we want answers as quickly as we can. understand that the first reports are usually in error. but there should not be any tremendous delay here. i think it's important the american people find out. whether or not a country -- well, libya, by way of example, can, in fact, provide the protection that's going to be necessary, and if they can't, we have two choices. either to put more force in, which may be objectionable, or to pull our diplomats out because if the country can't protect them, libya, and doesn't have the institutions, the military, the paramilitary to

protect them, then pull our people out because we can't put them at risk. this is the host nation's obligation to protect them. we can have limited protection, but we can't occupy the country. we don't have military bases in libya. so i think we have to make a judgment whether or not we can continue to provide our kind of diplomatic support, economic support and hopefully the country, over a period of time, will be able to develop the institutions that will promote the rule of law, provide for openness and make sure that we are secure. in our personnel. >> finally on syria, reporting over the weekend in "the new york times" that exactly what was feared could be happening in the field, that the weapons, even the light weapons that are being provided by qatar and the saudi arabians is getting into the hands of the islamists. >> this is one of the real challenges, as we've learned, we have to be very careful what we're doing in that part of the world to make sure that "a," that we're providing, whether it's humanitarian or intelligence or even military, which i don't think we provided

to date, that we make sure that it's going to the right people. but i think what's clear in syria right now is i don't think russia or china are going to be helpful. in fact, i think with the most recent allegation about russian weapons going into syria, they're going to prove very counterproductive. i think we need to look at egypt, we need to look at qatar and turkey and see whether or not those three countries can take the lead possibly with uae -- united arab emirates -- jumping in and providing really a basis for action being taken to set up some sort of safety zone so the hundreds of thousands of people who are being displaced can be protected. and that means with turkey is involved and it certainly will involve a much broader alliance of people and countries. i think if they take the initiative, the united states can play a role. i don't think the united states can be the one initiating the action in terms of heavy weaponry, anti-aircraft weapons being delivered to the group at this point. i think that they run the risk of falling into the hands of groups that will be very adverse

to the u.s. interests in the future. but i do think the international community, it's not going to come through the u.n. security council, it will have to be the countries in the region taking initiative with support coming from the united states, the french, the brits and others. >> bill cohen, thank you very much. clearly an issue that's going to come up tomorrow night in the debate. thanks for being with us today. and next, remembering senator arlen specter. we'll talk to former pennsylvania governor ed rendell. he knew him well. [ male announ] jill and her mouth have lived a great life. but she has some dental issues she's not happy about. so i introduced jill to crest pro-health for life. selected for people over 50. pro-health for life is a toothpaste that defends against tender, inflamed gums, sensitivity and weak enamel. conditions people over 50 experience. crest pro-health for life. so jill can keep living the good life. crest. life opens up when you do. check out the latest collection of snacks from lean cuisine.

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oh...there you go. wooohooo....hahaahahaha! i'm gonna stand up to her! no you're not. i know. you know ronny folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than a witch in a broom factory. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. round two for the debates. the presidential debates, this one a town hall format. does that make it tougher for the president to get more aggressive without offending the live audience? joining me, political analyst, former governor ed rendell and republican strategist john feary. welcome to both of you. you've prepared for debates in your own campaigns. how does the town hall format change the dynamic for a president who's been criticized for not being aggressive enough in the first debate?

>> well, actually, andrea, i think it goes to president obama's benefit. i think he's good at town halls. he's experienced at town hall. he relates well to voters when they talk to him head to head. and i think it will give him an opportunity in a strong and forceful way but without being abusive to point out, look, governor romney, you're here in front of all these folks. explain to us what deductions you're going to -- just give us four or five of them -- i'll give you all the time in the world if you need. give us four or five deductions you're going to cut to begin the process of balancing the budget and not increasing the deficit for all of the rates you're going to reduce, including the rates on the richest people in the country. >> john, how does mitt romney handle the president's attack lines on these subjects? >> well, i think what mitt romney has to do is continually bring it back to the audience, have personal stories and personalize himself. i think the democratic base really wants president obama to be very aggressive. i think the best thing the president can do is say what am

i going to do in my next term? he hasn't defined and people are saying to themselves here's a guy with a plan and his only plan is to raise taxes rich people. if he could explain his man, he'd be better off in trying to attack romney. >> both sides are trying to work the ref by coming up with some memorandum of understanding that they want to impose on the moderator. i'm told by the debate commission that that has nothing to do with them, that their rules are set, and everyone understands that it's two minutes for both sides coming from a question from the town hall, and then candy crowley, moderator from cnn, has two minutes to try to follow up or pin them down if she chooses to. so what's the big fuss coming from the obama camp and mitt romney, the only thing they seem to be able to agree on is they don't like the rules. >> it's not the rules that are going to determine the outcome of this debate. it's what both candidates do. and i agree that the president should lay out some of his plans. i mean, for example, the jobs

bill that he put before the republican house of representatives in october, which included components that republicans had supported before but because they didn't want to give the president any victory, they turned it down. and each and every component of it is good. it involves cutting taxes on small businesses, increasing investments in our infrastructure. those are things the president's proposed, and i think he would propose in a second term. but i also think he should use this as an opportunity in front of a live audience to very respectfully but very strongly say to governor romney, okay. now's the time -- congressman ryan wouldn't do it, you wouldn't do it in the first debate. we'll give you all the time you want. tell the american people what deductions you're going to eliminate. >> i see the governor is on a very good message point here. i'm not sure if that's going to be the difference in the campaign. >> he could be the one debating. >> exactly. i think the reason that both campaigns are doing this, it's fairly easy to predict what the audience is going to ask. it's going to be a lot more difficult to predict how candy

crowley is going to shape the questions. i would say, though, that candy is an excellent moderator. i think she's very fair. and i think that both sides, as you said before, are trying to game the refs. that's part of the process. let's not kid ourselves, candy crowley will do an excellent job. >> i agree with that, absolutely. >> let me play something that's come to tower attention and being widely reported. tommy thompson running for the senate, and now his son who's been very actively involved as a surrogate and running his campaign, this is what he had to say, some very controversial remarks caught on camera at a republican party brunch yesterday in wisconsin. >> we have the opportunity to send president obama back to chicago or kenya. >> back to chicago or kenya? john, i mean, tommy thompson has apologized for this, for his

son's remarks, and he said that this is something he should not have said and that jason thompson apologizes as well. >> i agree with tommy thompson. i don't think it's going to be that big of a bump in the road for his campaign. it's still a pretty close election. i don't think this will be the game changer. >> i want to take some time here to talk about arlen specter. john, i know you knew him in the washington context. ed rendell, i first met him in 1967. i was just out of school and covering the district attorney, the republican then district attorney. he was trying to run for mayor. and if i'm not mistaken, you were an assistant d.a. >> well, in '67 when he ran for mayor, i wasn't a d.a. yet. i was a law intern working in the office, but i soon became an assistant d.a. in 1968. and there's a great picture of me being sworn in by arlen with two other assistant d.a.s way back then. it's incredible. i've been looking at it since arlen died. he was a great d.a. and a great

senator. and andrea, i think it's fair to say if you look back over the history of the great commonwealth of pennsylvania, no public official did more for us in 38 years of elective office in our history other than maybe ben franklin. i mean, you'd have to go back all that way to find someone -- >> that's a long way. >> it is a long way back, but think about it. no governor, no senator. he was incredible. >> i mean, he was controversial, and we know that he started out as a democrat. then he became a republican to run against the d.a., who then called him benedict arlen for having switched parties to run against his former boss. he switched parties again, of course, after the tea party supporters went after him and he realized that he couldn't win re-election presumably in 2010, and then he had, as you know better than anyone, he had that challenge in the democratic primary. so despite the support of the president, you and the other democrats in the state, he failed to get the nomination in

2010. >> but in both times that he switched parties, and back in 1965, he switched parties because the democrat party in philadelphia was totally boss controlled, and there was no place for any independence or new blood. so the only chance he had was to run as a republican. and then when he switched parties a couple of years ago, it was because because the republican party basically had left him. i mean, he's not the only moderate to have left. olympia snow just decided not to run for re-election because she couldn't take it anymore. you saw people like lincoln chaffe leave the party. all are losing to tea party acts like great senators like dick lugar. arlen did it because he had no choice. he used his independence and the fact he was one of the last remaining moderates to do incredible things for pennsylvania, andrea. he got stuff by being arlen specter, that person, he got

stuff for the people he represented like no one else did. he was incredible. >> on a personal note, just some weeks ago when he was in his final illness having beaten hodgkin's lymphoma twice, he was such a competitor and great squash player. just a few weeks before he reached out to me through a former staff member to see if i would do one final interview with him. he wanted to talk about the important of funding nih because he and other appropriators doubled the size of nih. he wanted to talk about that before he died. his family and others intervened and thought he was not well enough and he should conserve his energy in the final weeks. he wanted to talk about the legacy of nih. >> andrea, that's the legacy of arlen specter. he'll be helping people for many years to come, the things that

he did. >> thank you for that, ed rendell. one final word. >> one thing about governor -- the senator was he lived life like he played squash, he was tough and relentless and knew all the angles and that's why he survived as long as he did and steer the middle course. >> a great final word. john, thank you for being here. governor rendell, thanks as always. what political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? have you heard about that debate? that's next on "andrea mitchell reports." akes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes.

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which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours. we're heading to the debate tomorrow morning. >> big, big moment especially for president obama. 17% of likely voters thought president obama won that debate, 71% thought mitt romney won it. president obama can't have numbers like that again. the polls are moving a little bit towards mitt romney.

if we have another showing by president obama like the first showing, my guess is they would move more significantly. the obama team knows it and i expect him to come out better. >> chris, thank you again. that's does it for us this edition of andr"andrea mitchell reports." tomorrow we'll be live at hofstra university in new york. we'll be joined by robert gibbs and mr. madden. tamron has a look at what's next on "news nation." >> in the next hour we follow the latest polling showing this race is a dead heat. president obama, mitt romney very close, but what can break this stalemate? next 24 hours, we know the big debate. we're going to talk about it. the dnc's patrick gaspar will join me, "the washington post" anne cornbluth and steve diese will joan begin. senator lindsey graham leads the charges of republicans who accuse the administration of

deliberating covering up the its response to the attacks in libya. will the president address this issue specifically? lindsey graham's comments at the debate tomorrow, and that is next on "news nation." one golden crown. come on frank how long have we known each other? go to e-trade. they got killer tools man. they'll help you nail a retirement plan that's fierce. two golden crowns. you realize the odds of winning are the same as being mauled by a polar bear and a regular bear in the same day? frank! oh wow, you didn't win? i wanna show you something... it's my shocked face. [ gasps ] ♪ [ male announcer ] get a retirement plan that works at e-trade. why? because i'm gonna make the call to switch to a new medicare prescription drug plan. i want a plan that covers the medications i take. and i want getting my medications to be convenient. and i want low copays. really low copays.

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